Instagram vs Reality

I love how pretty Instagram photos are. A couple of years ago Instagram was full of boring hipsterish photos of autumn leaves or sunsets or whatever. And nobody edited their photos and only used Instagram’s inbuilt filters. Boring!

Nowadays Instagram is chock full of beautiful, curated, carefully edited photos. Everything is well thought of, well photographed using DSLRs and the like, edited with gorgeous filters that match so your feed looks uniform, and even posted with thought, placing selfies, scenery shots, flatlays and food shots alternately for better aesthetics.

In fact, let me give you a behind the scenes tour of the creation of perfect Instagram photos.

On happy, cute, smiling kids

Instagram.

Reality

On obliging kids posing for beautiful photos

Instagram

Reality

On beautiful Pinterest worthy houses

Instagram (credit to @meganpunelli)

Reality

On delectable Instagram worthy food prepared with love and consumed heartily by family members

Instagram (credit to @littlemissbento)

Reality (credit to me, trying to make homemade Reese’s pieces)

On selfies

Instagram

Reality #iwokeuplikethis

On showing off your hard earned fitness bod

Instagram (credit to @bobostephanie yums)

Reality (credit to my contouring stick)

On postpartum bodies

Instagram (credit to @sarah.green_x who bounced back 2 weeks post partum with a totally flat tummy)

Reality
Instagram can be a joy to scroll through and an inspiration to us ordinary humans… except when it makes you feel like something your kid left in a diaper.

We humans are naturally attracted to creating, looking at beautiful things and Instagram is just a bigger manifestation of that human desire. But the downside is that it makes us all feel inadequate. We drool over and envy other people’s perfect moments, then we turn back and look at our lives which feel mediocre in comparison. This is especially true if you’re a mom.

I feel it as a mother. I do. You have your IG moms with perfectly coiffed hair; my own hair is stringy and stiff because something dried on the ends. You have your moms with beautiful Pinterest worthy houses and I just stepped on a piece of Fighter’s Lego. With dried Play Doh on the bottom.

You see moms who stay slim throughout their pregnancy and they’re taking OOTDs wearing heels; I was buying new slippers because none of my shoes fit anymore and my head merged with my neck when I was pregnant.

You see pictures of handsome little boys dressed their dapper best in skinny pants, boots and maybe a blazer. Or maybe they’re extra hipster in harem pants and black outfits; while my son has no concept of laundry and wants to wear the same Batman tshirt for three days straight, even to take a bath.

The one that gets me the most is those damn kyaraben meals! Who got time to cut out 1mm long seaweed pieces to stick on rice ball Pikachu’s face!? And your kids actually eat it? Why mine like to use rice to make pattern on the floor one WTF.

Being a parent is probably the most stressful job in the world. Society judges you, your relatives give you unrequited nagging and you judge yourself every day of your life.

Whatever kind of mom you are – stay at home, full time working, working from home – you will go through days (if not every day) feeling like you could do better and promising to do more the next day. Because we want to be the best we can for our children.

So don’t let what you see on social media affect you. Some people are just blessed but that does not mean their lives are perfect; it just means they’re gifted in one area. Because nothing goes our way all the time. Accidents will occur, a cake will be burnt, your kid will spill grape juice on your beige sofa. Everyone wants to shares the best pieces of their lives but that doesn’t mean the other bad, funny, regular parts of life don’t happen.

Let’s keep it real, Moms! (and every other person). Don’t be afraid to show the boring, tiresome bits of your day because all these make up a life that is uniquely ours. As someone (Dave Willis, apparently) once said,

There are no perfect parents, and there are no perfect children but there are plenty of perfect moments along the way.

To this end, Mamee Monster Biskidz have made an ad that shows perception vs reality in today’s world where being a mom is more high pressured than ever because of the advent of social media and oversharing.

You may spot a couple of familiar faces. 😀

Mamee Monster Biskidz is a new, thin and crispy biscuit that kids can eat in between meals and not have it affect their appetite for main meals. It contains DHA and is a source of Calcium and vitamins. 🙂 They know about vitamins and they also know what moms today struggle with. 😛